How the Smithsonian is restoring the original USS Enterprise to full 1967 glory

2016 is a big year for Star Trek fans—it’s the 50th anniversary of the debut of the series! To mark the occasion, there will be a new film (Star Trek Beyond) and likely initial glimpses of the forthcoming new television series. But the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is doing its part, too.

The organization is currently carrying out important restoration work on the original Enterprise model, the one that was used in the filming of all 79 episodes of the original series. The model was donated to the Smithsonian in 1974, but it was taken out of public display in September 2015 since it was in dire need of conservation.

“We’re working to both stabilize it and bring it to an appearance as people saw it in the show,” Nicholas Partridge, a Smithsonian spokesman, told Ars.

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How the Smithsonian is restoring the original USS Enterprise to full 1967 glory

How to save time online dating

Dating is a huge time suck. But it should be enjoyable, not a chore.

Before you can become more efficient, step back and look at your online dating commitment now. Estimate how much time you dedicate to perfecting your profile, editing pictures, sorting through seemingly endless matches and actually communicating with people. Then add the time you spend getting ready and traveling.

See also: 17 dating confessions that will make you squirm with awkwardness

When you do the math, just a short 45-minute coffee date with someone you may or may not like could cost you hours of your life

It’s part of the dating game, but it doesn’t mean you need to spend more time than necessary playing around. Here are the best ways to spend less time in front of a screen and more time discovering real connections.
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How to save time online dating

See all the cute body-positive dolls designed to be better than Barbie

Barbie — ridiculously proportioned Barbie — is a villain among body-image activists

Her impossible proportions have long influenced the body image of women — from the curvy girls who never saw themselves in Barbie to girls who never recognized her as an impossible ideal and strived to get her figure. The original Barbie, released in 1959, was thin — and came in a bathing suit — but she had some curves on her thighs, hips, and calves. Over the years, Barbie continued to get a tinier waist, bigger breasts, and blonder hair

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See all the cute body-positive dolls designed to be better than Barbie

MediaTek confirms bug that affects Android devices running its chipsets

MediaTek has officially confirmed the existence of a software bug that has put several Android devices running the company’s chipsets at risk. The chip-maker says the issue in question only affects Android 4.4 KitKat devices.

First reported by security researcher Justin Case earlier this month, the bug could potentially allow an attacker to enable root access on a vulnerable device. “Root user could do many things, such as access data normally protected from the user/ other apps, or brick the phone, or spy on the user, monitor communications etc,” Case said.

For its part, MediaTek explained that the vulnerability stems from a debug feature that the chip-maker said smartphone manufacturers should have disabled before shipping the devices.

“We are aware of this issue and it has been reviewed by MediaTek’s security team. It was mainly found in devices running Android 4.4 KitKat, due to a de-bug feature created for telecommunication inter-operability testing in China,” a MediaTek spokesperson said.

“After testing, phone manufacturers should disable the de-bug feature before shipping smartphones. However, after investigation, we found that a few phone manufacturers didn’t disable the feature, resulting in this potential security issue.”

MediaTek, however, didn’t provide anymore details, just saying that the issue affects “a portion of devices” from “certain manufacturers,” and adding that it has alerted all manufacturers about the feature.

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MediaTek confirms bug that affects Android devices running its chipsets

Four new Simple Connect pre-paid plans now available from U.S. Cellular

U.S. Cellular has announced four new plans for its Simple Connect pre-paid service. Starting at $30 a month for those sporting a basic phone, this plan comes with 500 minutes of voice, and unlimited texts. For those rockin’ a smartphone, U.S. Cellular’s pre-paid offerings start with a plan priced at $35 a month. For that money, you get unlimited talk and text, and 500MB of high-speed data. Go over that cap and your data sped is throttled to 1X. You see, there are no overage fees with the carrier’s Simple Connect Plans.

If you’re willing to go to $45 a month, you will have unlimited talk … – Source

Four new Simple Connect pre-paid plans now available from U.S. Cellular

Facebook bans private gun adverts

Private individuals will no longer be allowed to advertise guns on Facebook and Instagram after the sites announced rule changes. – Source

Facebook bans private gun adverts

How to fake a book club conversation when you haven't read the book

Well, it happened again. It’s book club time, and you haven’t read the book

We get it. Life got in the way, the novel was too long, the book was too expensive,it was a bad book choice in the first place, and you’re really just here for the free booze

See also: 19th-Century Authors Perfectly Mixed With 21st-Century Rappers

But never fear. Just because you didn’t read the book doesn’t mean that you can’t participate in the conversation, even in a — dare we say it — meaningful way.

Follow these simple steps and you’ll be on your way to getting book club drunk with a minimal amount of side eye from your peers. …

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How to fake a book club conversation when you haven't read the book

Update to Google Calendar allows you to enter an event faster using "Smart Suggestions"

Google is in the process of updating the Google Calendar app for both Android and iOS. Being added to the app is “Smart Suggestions.” With this feature, once you start typing to create a new event, you will see matching suggestions. You can pick from one of the suggestions, or keep typing. If you type “at,” you can add an address to the event, and later get directions.

Type “with” when creating the event so that you can add people to it. While this doesn’t send invitations to the people you list, it will be easier to call or message them from the event. When you tap “on,” you can leave … – Source

Update to Google Calendar allows you to enter an event faster using "Smart Suggestions"

Babylonians tracked Jupiter with sophisticated geometrical math

(credit: Trustees of the British Museum/Mathieu Ossendrijver)

Even when a culture leaves behind extensive written records, it can be hard to understand their knowledge of technology and the natural world. Written records are often partial, and writers may have been unaware of some technology or simply considered it unremarkable. That’s why the ancient world can still offer up surprises like the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient mechanical computer that highlighted the Greeks’ knowledge of math, astronomy, and the mechanical tech needed to tie them together.

It took several years after the discovery for the true nature of the Antikythera Mechanism to be understood. And now something similar has happened for the Babylonians. Clay tablets, sitting in the British Museum for decades, show that this culture was able to use sophisticated geometry to track the orbit of Jupiter, relying on methods that in some ways pre-figure the development of calculus centuries later.

We already knew that the Babylonians tracked the orbits of a variety of bodies. There are roughly 450 written tablets that describe the methods and calculations that we’re aware of, and they date from 400 to 50 BCE. Most of the ones that describe how to calculate orbital motion, in the words of Humboldt University’s Mathieu Ossendrijver, “can be represented as flow charts.” Depending on the situation, they describe a series of additions, subtractions, and multiplications that could tell you where a given body would be.

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Babylonians tracked Jupiter with sophisticated geometrical math